Top-seeded
Nikolay Davydenko led the seeded charge (d. Dlouhy) Wednesday at the ATP stop in St. Petersburg where the seeds went three-for-three, joined by (5)
Nicolas Kiefer (d. Melzer from a set down) and (7)
Greg Rusedski (d. Tursunov).
"I can't say I'm in a very good shape," said Davydenko, fighting for one of the last qualifying spots at the Masters Cup. "I want to achieve good results in order to prepare well for next week's event in Paris. Of course, it would be very nice to win here in Russia and gain some extra confidence for next week."
Un-seeds advancing on the day were American
Paul Goldstein (d. Burgsmuller in three), Dane
Kenneth Carlsen (d. (Q) Stakhovsky in three tiebreaks), and Czech
Robin Vik (d. Serra in three).
On court Thursday in St. Pete are Pavel vs. (2) T.Johansson, (7) Rusedski vs. K.Kim, (4) Youzhny vs. Saulnier, (1) Davydenko vs. Goldstein, and (8) Verdasco vs. Monaco.
